Kerry on war vote: Powell made me do it

U.S. Sen. John Kerry emphatically defended his 2002 vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq Tuesday, pointing the finger at then Secretary of State Colin Powell for providing faulty evidence in the run up to the war. Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston)

In a phone interview with conservative talk show host Ken Pittman on WBSM Tuesday afternoon, Pittman asked Kerry (D-Boston) to explain how he at one time voted for the use of force in Iraq and then came to vehemently oppose the U.S. operation there. Kerry welcomed the opportunity.

"Absolutely, I'd be delighted to do that," he said. "I spent a long time on the telephone with Colin Powell on the Sunday before the vote and Colin Powell assured me they were going to do all of the planning necessary, they were not going to rush to war. He assured me that they were going to do all the inspections and exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and finish the diplomacy."

Kerry based his vote "largely on the conversations with Colin Powell," believing that the administration would not rush into war. Kerry didn't place all of the blame on Powell, however, saying that he too was given faulty information.

"In fact," he said, "if you were to talk Colin Powell today or [then Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage...they'll tell you - they misled Colin Powell. And through him the rest of us were given evidence that never would have passed scrutiny."

Kerry 2002 vote plagued his 2004 presidential campaign; Republicans used the vote to paint him as a flip flopper since he later opposed the war. Kerry, however, said again Tuesday that his position has been consistent.

"They also broke each of those promises, Ken," he said. "They did rush to war. They didn't do the planning. They didn't exhaust the remedies. And as I said in a speech on the floor of the Senate, if they don't do these things that they promised, I will oppose what they're doing. If he goes unilaterally, I will oppose it. And that's exactly what I did."

Kerry is currently facing a primary challenge from Gloucester attorney Ed O'Reilly and a general election challenge from Jeff Beatty. Both candidates have criticized Kerry for his vote in 2002 and have said that if they had been in his position, they would not have voted for the resolution.

In the interview Tuesday, Kerry also detailed other steps he took leading up to the vote as well.

"I spent a lot of time trying to understand precisely what the extent of that evidence was," he said. "What has not been written about a lot is the due diligence that I did leading up to that vote. I went to the United Nations Security Council and I met with every single one of our Security Council ambassadors in a meeting. I am the only senator, I think, that took the time to do that. I spent two hours with them learning from them what their perceptions were from their countries about Saddam Hussein's weaponry. They agreed that [Iraq] undoubtedly had weapons and that there needed to be some kind of inspection process put in place. And they believed that they needed more time to put that in place. Ultimately we were going have to hold them accountable."

Kerry also said that he went to the Pentagon before the vote and looked at the intelligence photographs of buildings that were believed to house Hussein's weapons programs.